Rams connect for 13 hits, pound ‘Dogs

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BANGOR – After managing just three hits in its season opener against Skowhegan, the Bangor baseball team used a touch of small-ball to unleash a 13-hit attack that overpowered Lawrence of Fairfield 15-1 at Mansfield Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

The game ended after 4 1/2 innings due to the 10-run rule.

Bangor’s Kyle Vanidestine led off the bottom of the first with a sharp infield single to third base, then raced to third base as Ryan Larochelle bunted down the third-base line for an infield single.

And a rally was born.

The play left runners on first and third with no one out, setting up a four-run first inning that instantly broke this game open.

“Ryan always gets the bunt down, and coach [Jeff Fahey] tells me it’s my decision, if I think I can get to third, go, and if I don’t, stay at second,” said Vanidestine. “I always round second, and if the third baseman’s committed, I just go.”

“With Kyle’s speed, he can steal a base basically on any catcher,” added Larochelle, who had a three-hit day. “With him running on the pitch, if I get the bunt down he’s almost always going to get to third as long as I pull the third baseman in a bit.”

Shane Walton followed with a four-pitch walk to load the bases before Ian Edwards ripped a three-run double to left-center.

One out later, Jordan Clarke grounded a double inside the third-base bag to drive home Edwards with the final run of the inning.

Edwards launched another blast to left-center off Lawrence starter Nick Nelson in the second inning, a two-run double that drove home Larochelle and Walton to make it 6-0.

“They were both fastballs,” said Edwards of his two double, five-RBI effort. “[Nelson] threw a couple of curveballs but couldn’t get them over the plate and fell behind, and that kind of let me know what was coming.”

Larochelle and Clarke each hit a two-run double in the third, and John Cox also doubled home a run as Bangor scored six more runs to extend its lead to 12-0.

The two-time defending Eastern Maine Class A champs went to their bench and added three more runs in the fourth. Johnny Warren hit an RBI single to highlight the rally, while Jimmy Burns also singled and Matt Kenny plated a run with an infield groundout.

“We came out hitting early today, and Kyle getting on base in his first at-bat is huge every time,” said Edwards. “This is what we’re looking for all through the lineup, getting some hits and capitalizing on having baserunners.”

Clarke earned the victory with four innings of three-hit, shutout pitching. The junior righthander struck out three and walked one in a 66-pitch effort before giving way to Dan Taft for the final inning.

“Finally I was throwing strikes,” said Clarke. “In preseason I couldn’t find the strike zone, but today was a nice day and everything felt good.”

Kyle Savage also doubled and singled for 2-0 Bangor, which got at least one hit from eight different batters.

“We hit pretty well during preseason,” said Larochelle. “Coach told us we’re going to have games like [Monday’s 4-0 win against Skowhegan] when we have to rely on our pitching. Ian got us through that game, and then we came back with a game like today when we hit and pitched well, so that’s good for us.”

Lawrence (0-2) got a three-hit game from Brock Lawrence, who scored the Bulldogs’ lone run in the top of the fifth when he singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by John Flynn.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045

RAMS 15, BULLDOGS 1, 5 inns.

Lawrence (0-2) Bangor (2-0)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Lawrence, 2b 3 1 3 0 Vanidestine, cf 3 2 1

Hersom, c 2 0 0 0 Burns, cf 1 1 0

Flynn, ss 3 0 1 1 Larochelle, rf 3 3 2

Manzo, 1b 2 0 0 0 Warren, rf 1 1 1

J. Englehart, 1b 1 0 0 0 Walton, 3b 1 1

Nelson, p-rf 1 0 1 0 Kenny, 3b 1 0 0

Melcher, rf 0 0 0 0 Edwards, 1b 2 2 5

Lee, rf-p 2 0 0 0 Templeton, 1b 1 0 0

Smedberg, 3b 2 0 0 0 Cox, ss 2 1 1 1

Boudreau, lf 0 0 0 0 Casey-Covell, ss 1 0

A. Englehart, lf 1 0 0 0 Clarke, p 3 3

Gilley, cf 2 0 0 0 Taft, p 1 0 0 0

Savage, lf 2 1 2 0

Brookings, lf 1 0 0 0

McDade, c 2 1 0 0

Kelley, 2b 2 0 0 0

Susi, 2b 0 1 0 0

Totals 19 1 5 1 Totals 27 15 13 14

Lawrence 000 01 – 1

Bangor 426 3x – 15

E-Lee, Nelson; Clarke 2; LOB-Lawrence 6, Bangor 5; 2B-Edwards 2, Cox, Clarke, Savage, Larochelle; DP-Kelley-Cox-Edwards

Lawrence IP H R ER BB SO

Nelson (L, 0-1) 2 2/3 10 12 12 5 2

Lee 1 1/3 3 3 3 1 2

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Clarke (W, 1-0) 4 3 0 0 1 3

Taft 1 2 1 1 1 0

HBP-Boudreau (by Clarke); WP-Lee 3, Nelson 2; Taft; PB-Hersom; T-1:49; ATT-100 (est.)